[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1747 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1747

  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to increase the 
penalties imposed for making or accepting contributions in the name of 
  another and to prohibit foreign nationals from making any campaign-
                         related disbursements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 1999

 Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Shays, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Mica, 
     Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Souder, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. 
 Traficant, Mr. Horn, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Barr of Georgia, and Mr. Ryan of 
  Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to increase the 
penalties imposed for making or accepting contributions in the name of 
  another and to prohibit foreign nationals from making any campaign-
                         related disbursements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Conduit Contribution Prevention Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN PENALTIES IMPOSED FOR VIOLATIONS OF CONDUIT 
              CONTRIBUTION BAN.

    (a) Increase in Civil Money Penalty for Knowing and Willful 
Violations.--Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5)(B), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``(or, in the case of a violation of 
        section 320, which is not less than 300 percent of the amount 
        involved in the violation and is not more than the greater of 
        $50,000 or 1000 percent of the amount involved in the 
        violation)''; and
            (2) in paragraph (6)(C), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``(or, in the case of a violation of 
        section 320, which is not less than 300 percent of the amount 
        involved in the violation and is not more than the greater of 
        $50,000 or 1000 percent of the amount involved in the 
        violation)''.
    (b) Increase in Criminal Penalty.--
            (1) In general.--Section 309(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
        437g(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        subparagraph:
    ``(D) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of 
section 320 involving an amount aggregating $1,000 or more during a 
calendar year shall be fined, or imprisoned for not more than 2 years, 
or both. The amount of the fine shall not be less than 300 percent of 
the amount involved in the violation and shall not be more than the 
greater of $50,000 or 1000 percent of the amount involved in the 
violation.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 309(d)(1)(A) of such Act 
        (2 U.S.C. 437g(d)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ``(other than 
        section 320)'' after ``this Act''.
    (c) Mandatory Referral to Attorney General.--Section 309(a)(5)(C) 
of such Act (2 U.S.C. 437(a)(5)(C)) is amended by inserting ``(or, in 
the case of a violation of section 320, shall refer such apparent 
violation to the Attorney General of the United States)'' after 
``United States''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to violations occurring on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF BAN ON FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALL CAMPAIGN-
              RELATED DISBURSEMENTS.

    (a) Prohibition on Disbursements by Foreign Nationals.--Section 319 
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is 
amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``contributions'' and 
        inserting ``disbursements'';
            (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``contribution'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``disbursement''; and
            (3) in subsection (a), by striking the semicolon and 
        inserting the following: ``, including any disbursement to a 
        political committee of a political party and any disbursement 
        for an independent expenditure;''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to disbursements made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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